


keep calm and get your mac and cheese on

by ChibiFoxAI



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Arahir's Parkour AU, Gen, Humor, Mutual Pining, Second-Hand Embarrassment, Voltron Vehicle Force Cameo, someone save him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-02-26 12:09:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13235454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChibiFoxAI/pseuds/ChibiFoxAI
Summary: Dear Katie,This letter will probably be the longest message I will ever write to you because I want to be sure that you have every last detail about what caused my death.Or in which parkour is kept to a minimum but still haunts Matt and many things are ruined as a result.





	1. in which shiro is sick and keith decides to help

**Author's Note:**

  * For [arahir](https://archiveofourown.org/users/arahir/gifts).
  * Inspired by [backflipped right into my heart](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12122589) by [arahir](https://archiveofourown.org/users/arahir/pseuds/arahir). 
  * Inspired by [backflipped right into my heart](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12122589) by [arahir](https://archiveofourown.org/users/arahir/pseuds/arahir). 



> For arahir and the parkour AU that makes me smile when my day has gone to hell.

_Dear Katie,_

_This letter will probably be the longest message I will ever write to you because I want to be sure that you have every last detail about what caused my death._

_You know how people confess that they’re afraid of things like stickers, buttons, or the Kool-Aid Man? Yeah, I wish that I was one of those guys right now._ _Their fears are irrational and can be banished to the deepest circle of Inferno with a few drugs and therapy sessions._

_Currently, I just descended into a new circle that even Dante and Virgil wouldn’t want to tour around all because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut_. _I have had so many things ruined for me now and it’s pretty much my own fault._

* * *

 

It had been two weeks since Shiro decided to distance himself from Keith, meaning that he would hopelessly stare up at the stars and whisper a soft ‘why’ or whimper in some sort of unholy combination of pining and sadness every so often and drive Matt closer to demand a roommate switch.

Unfortunately, Shiro ended up getting a cold from going outside in the cold desert night and was stuck in bed for the next few days. While this would mean that Matt’s team was down a pilot, it also meant that all Matt had to deal with for most of the day were Keith’s occasional questions concerning Shiro’s health. At night, Shiro was too drowsy from whatever medicine the nurses gave him to talk about anything related to parkour and by extension ‘the-one-that-did-not-necessarily-get-away-but-was-kept-out-of-reach-by-destiny’ or whatever Shiro called it during a particularly worrying spike in fever.

“I wonder if we could take some lunch to Shiro.” Keith broke the silence. Nobody at their table had spoken at meal times since Shiro had been put into makeshift quarantine two days earlier.

“No can do. According to regulations, all dishware and eating utensils have to stay in the mess hall. After we drop off our trays we can get those Styrofoam takeout boxes to take him something, but everything else has to stay here.” Matt looked over to the tablemate that was talking, who he recognized as Lisa from a few of his engineering classes.

Sweet, sensible Lisa. She was beautiful and always knew what to say. The most level headed person he knew. The shining beacon of light to lead him out of the pine forest that had become his life. If only she was part of his team and not Jeff’s team; maybe then they wouldn’t be in their current situation and everything would be right with the world.

Keith pursed his lips, “I guess that makes sense, but how would anyone know that anyone is actually getting fed?”

Without Shiro around, Matt had to admit that Keith’s naivety about how the Garrison worked was actually kind of cute. It was like watching a kitten trying to venture out into the world for the first time away from its parent, with the parent in this case being Shiro.

Matt froze for a second and hoped to whatever deity was listening that Shiro didn’t have a Daddy kink on top of a Uniform kink. If that were true then Matt would gladly become the first real life case of spontaneous human combustion.

Once again, Lisa spoke and returned to world to normalcy, “The Garrison may be a military academy in many ways, but it’s still like a boarding school or university at heart. Each floor of the dorms has a small kitchen that students can use, but they have to provide their own ingredients or get whatever the lunch ladies haven’t used and thrown away. You wouldn’t believe the line of out of states students that forms during the shorter holidays and exam seasons.” Lisa paused before shivering, “I didn’t think it was possible for so many people to be addicted to instant ramen.”

Matt gave a strangled laugh; instant noodles had been the corner stone of his midterm/finals week study diet, “Yeah well, I think it’s sad that Shiro isn’t here today. It’s Mac and Cheese Friday and you know how he loves the stuff.”

* * *

 

_I should have seen it coming. It was in that moment that I could hear Nonno Lorenzo’s voice, God rest his soul, calling me a ‘stupido ragrazzo’ or whatever it was during that Christmas five years ago._

_I am both surprised that the spirit of a dead ancestor or the ghost Abraham Lincoln didn’t rocket down from the heavens and scream about how I fucked up in that single moment._

_I never should have learned how to talk. After everything that has happened because of my stupid mouth, I should just shave my head, become a monk, and take a vow of silence. This is my punishment._

* * *

 

Matt nearly crushed the cafeteria doggy bag he was able to snag for Shiro’s dinner out of pure annoyance.

Takashi Shirogane, Golden Boy of the Garrison, the best pilot of his generation, was whining.

It’s wasn’t one of those whines that caused teen girls to swoon over hot brooding boys in paperback novels. It was one of those whines that made people feel like their teeth were being dragged across a chalkboard.

Matt resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his roommate. Not best friend anymore, roommate. He had to work his way back to friend status after everything that had happened since that day in the gym.

Wrapped in a Spiderman blanket burrito being held together by nothing but his right hand was THE Takashi Shirogane, pilot extraordinaire and heartbroken parkour expert wannabe. Gone was the nicely pressed uniform and in its place was a pair of cat paw print pajama pants. The shirt that he had been wearing earlier was bunched up in the corner of bed, slightly reeking of fever sweat if anyone had the never to actually press their face into it and check. To his left was a bag of store brand popcorn that was 20% air-popped popcorn and 80% grease and preservatives. In his hand was the remote control to their TV, also covered in 80% grease and preservatives.

A Samurai Cats Six marathon was playing in the background, as per Shiro’s Sick Day tradition. Matt remembered the current episode, which happened to be Shiro’s favorite. The beautiful Princess Kira was poisoned by the enemy into falling into a death like slumber only to be saved by her love interest Ara Cepheus, but only after defeating the evil Kitsutron and then giving her the cure via mouth to mouth transfer. Despite the two saying the kiss meant nothing, everyone could see the sparks between the two.

“Are you seriously watching this episode again? We already know how the season ends Shiro. It’s been two years since it first aired!”

Shiro ignored him in favor of whining and throwing a handful of popcorn at the screen. “It's called mutual pining, you idiots! Everyone can see that you both like each other! Just get it over with and stop killing us!”

Matt just slowly looked over to Shiro, face a mixture of disgust and frustration. The disgust stemmed from the fact that everything Shiro was yelling at the stupid cartoon about was what he and practically everyone in the Garrison had been feeling ever since Keith tripped into their lives.

The frustration came from the fact that Matt would have to be the one to clean superstore brand popcorn grease off of the TV Iverson had so ‘kindly’ gifted to them. Not.

Shiro whined yet again and full bodied flopped face first into his pillow. Whatever he said next was muffled.

“Shiro I don’t speak pillow.”

Shiro turned his face so that he was facing away from Matt but could be heard. “I said ‘sick man parkour.’”

Parkour. That one stupid word that turned Matt’s life into a three ringed circus and ruined whatever respect he had for his former best friend and current roommate. Matt took a deep breath before holding out the doggy bag he was able to snag in the cafeteria like a peace offering, “I brought you some leftover bar-b-que and coleslaw from the third lunch period. They were out of mac and cheese when I got it and Jeff snagged Keith’s unwanted mac.”

_It wouldn’t have been good still even if Jeff didn’t take it._ Matt mentally tacked on.

Another whine, louder than the first two, “Not only did I miss extra mac and cheese, but I missed Keith’s mac and cheese?”

“It’s a bit cold so you might want to heat- What happened to wanting to just be his friend Shirogane?”

“…Just because I don’t want to eat off the menu doesn’t mean I don’t look at it?” If it was not for the fact that Shiro was sick and thus looked more pathetic than usual, Matt was sure that he would have packed up all of the pilot’s worldly possessions and thrown it into the hall. The hallway would be Shiro’s new home and nature could run its course and take care of him or kill him; Matt wouldn’t care and his life would be at peace once more.

Before Matt could even respond, there was a knocking at the door. It wasn’t ominous per say, but for some reason every hair on Matt’s body started to stand on end. Tossing the Styrofoam box onto his bed, Matt made his way to the door.

* * *

 

_You know how in scary movies when there is a knock at the door and the actor slowly turns to the door and then takes their sweet-ass time to answer it? Like, even when they KNOW that the monster is on the other side and they answer it instead of trying to run away or hide? Yeah, I’m starting to understand that sheer, pure feeling of terror and why they don't try to run._

_I will never insult a scared white girl those low budget horror movies again. I won’t even yell at her if she got into her situation because she was messing with an Ouija board._

* * *

 

There, dressed in a pair of galaxy print sweat pants, food stained shirt, and ponytail was Keith, blue eyes doe-eyed and worried, and holding a pan of the most beautifully crafted mac and cheese Matt had ever dared to lay his dim-sighted eyes on.

Since Matt had nothing to eat but the food served in the mess hall, he was ready to fight whatever forces would attempt to keep him from the closest thing he had to a homemade meal for the entire semester. The breadcrumbs were a golden brown and he could occasionally see bits of golden cheese and noodles sticking out from where the breading didn’t cover. Looking a bit closer, Matt bit back a small noise of delight when he saw bits of pink and green around the edges of the pan and in the main dish itself.

Bacon and spinach. Parkour Boy had somehow gotten his hands on fresh bacon and spinach and not only lined the inside of the pan with it, but put chunks of it into the mac and cheese as well and, from what he could smell, garlic powder and black pepper and just the tiniest hint of hot sauce.

Matthew J. Holt had never been more thankful for Iverson leaving out his dumbbells and sparking the catalyst to the biggest nightmare of his life than in that very moment. He felt as though the universe was smiling at him and offering a token of apology.

However, the universe was not smiling on Matthew J. Holt at that moment because as he was basking in the apparent glory of Keith’s culinary skills, a single question shattered the peace.

“Matt, who is at the door?”

Matt then did his best to hold in a scream as Keith invited himself into his shared room without a word and practically made a beeline for Shiro’s bed.

* * *

 

_Mac and cheese. This little brat was standing at our door with a thing of gourmet HOMEMADE mac and cheese that he apparently found time to make because he somehow had a last period study hall to do all of his homework so he could do this for us. And by us I mean Shiro. On top of piloting and all those exercise hobbies, the kid can cook too. I couldn’t even send him away because he brought paper plates and plastic cutlery and freaking ginger ale._

_Yes Katie, I used the word cutlery. He brought a few sets of forks, knives, spoons, napkins and disposable cups because ‘he wants to make sure that Shiro doesn’t reuse stuff with germs and cause him to stay sick longer’ and all that jazz. How he got ginger ale, something that even the school nurse doesn’t have in stock right now, when we’re in the middle of the godforsaken desert I will never know and I don’t want to know how he got it. This ~~bitch~~ boy came prepared. I swear he’s an alien because nobody has an intuition or foresight this strong._

_Can you double check to see if Alexander’s Genesis still a make believe thing? Keith’s got like 90% of the traits and I’m pretty sure I saw his eyes turn purple at least once._

* * *

 

“I heard that you were going to be sad that you missed mac and cheese at lunch today. I tried to save mine for you but it got swiped.” Keith says as he makes himself comfortable next to Shiro’s bedside.

Shiro rolls over and immediately sits up at the sight of Keith. With his arms still holding the blanket in a personal cocoon and eyes glassy from the residual fever, Shiro looks smaller than usual. He looks almost vulnerable, cute even.

Matt gags at the thought of the adult Shiro ever being cute.

Shiro opens his mouth, as if to tell Keith that he only wants to stay friends or that he’s finally seen reason when his eyes zero in on Keith’s shirt.

“You didn’t have to do this for me.” He mumbles, “You got dirty because of me.”

“I wanted to.” Keith replies.

It’s every romcom movie that Matt has ever been forced to watch with his Mom and he can only watch in horror as it devolves into Shiro giving Keith his sweaty shirt to change in to out of guilt. It is physically painful to hold back a scream when he realizes that Keith is now wearing the sweaty fever shirt formerly known as the parkour nosebleed shirt. It’s as if his lungs cannot keep the air inside anymore.

Now Keith was going to get sick and Shiro would get at least ten times whinier if the fever let him remember this moment. That, or Keith and Shiro would be forced to shack up together in the nurse’s station just in case their colds turned into the flu.

The moment devolved even further as a cold flash swept through Shiro’s body, starting another round of shivers as he pulls the blanket closer to his body.

Matt decided to intervene on Shiro’s behalf, “Sorry Keith. You went through the trouble of cooking Shiro something and he can’t even eat it right now.”

Keith thought for a moment before cutting into the food he brought. After placing a rather modest chunk, still warm and gooey as if fresh from the oven, onto a plate, Keith scooped up a bit onto a spoon and held it out to Shiro.

He gives Shiro a smile, a small and shy smile that causes his mouth to curve just a touch but enough to show off the fact that Keith has dimples (and Matt tries to convince himself that Shiro’s sudden intake of breath is just him trying to clear his nasal passages).

What Keith would say next, wearing that little smile, would haunt Matt’s dreams for the next seven years:

“Here, now you can keep your blanket on and still eat.”

* * *

 

_I regret even being born. You deserve a brother who looks before he leaps. What happened next will forever haunt my conscience. You have been warned._ _Tell Mom that I love her._

_Katie, he started to spoon feed Shiro._

* * *

 

Keith started feeding Shiro. He honest to God started spoon feeding his fellow pilot slash parkour crush like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Every sound in the room turned into static as Matt surveyed the scene in front of him:

Shiro: Curled up in a blanket burrito and being spoon fed his favorite food by the object of his current affections while his favorite show played in the background.

Keith: Plate of food in one hand, spoon in another, wearing Shiro’s cast off shirt, which coincidentally was the SAME SHIRT that was used to once stem his bloody nose.

Pan of food on the desk next to the bed, chair moved to sit by the sick man’s bedside, eyes still worried; he was the perfect picture of the doting lover and it was so utterly domestic that Matt wanted to flee the room.

Matt then had a stray thought that he was going to have to get a whiteboard and spell everything out for the two. Or let it fall on him and end his suffering that way both Shiro and Keith could mourn him and find comfort in each other while Matt literally ascended into another level of existence away from any parkour nonsense.

But that would leave his family to deal with Shiro and Keith and he was not going to put them through that pain.

* * *

 

_Katherine, I’m dying. You’re alive. Tell everyone what happened exactly as I have told you; set the story straight at my funeral. Make sure that Shiro is banned from coming near it. In fact, cremate me and scatter my ashes to the four winds._

_I can never eat mac and cheese again. I can never watch my favorite cartoon or look at Spiderman or paw prints or even galaxy print anything without thinking of tonight. The only way I will ever be truly free is if I find a way to live on Pluto._

_\- Matt_


	2. in which keith is a disney princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things tend to get worse and start heading into the slightly unbelievable crack territory, but this is Voltron so anything can happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A small update that I couldn't get out of my head because of season 5. I hope you all enjoy it. Please read the original fic by arahir.

_Dear Katie,_  
_If this reaches you, then I have not ventured into the Twilight Zone. You are never going to believe that this actually happened. I am still reeling. This day shall one day be told on YouTube in one of those ‘Unbelievable Story’ compilation videos._

* * *

  
The mac and cheese delivery was bad enough. Matt still had nightmares about it. Nightmares that would have him sit up in the wee hours of the morning sweating in horror at the images his brain generated for him.

  
It was no surprise that Keith had gotten sick after his stint as Shiro’s nurse. While his cold was not as bad, he was still bedridden for a few days. Matt was thankful that Keith was on a separate grade level because he would not be able to survive having to tag along with Shiro to deliver missed homework.

  
Unfortunately, Shiro decided to return the favor and bring Keith food during his sickness as Keith had done for him. This meant that Matt had to accompany Shiro to make sure that he did not do something stupid like attack a guy for so much as sit too close to Keith and claim that the guy was taking advantage of the sick pilot.

  
It also took a lot of convincing and a pleading look to Iverson to deter Shiro from getting Keith a ‘Thank You’ card. Given that they were in the middle of nowhere and the school’s bookstore only carried birthday and seasonal cards, so this would mean that Shiro would have to MAKE Keith a card. If that were to happen, Matt was positive that he would have a stress induced heart attack.

  
So there he was, standing outside of parkour boy’s room with his idiot roommate to deliver breakfast, but without the card. The absence of the card was the only thing that made missing out on sleeping in worth the trouble.

  
Shiro looked at the food container in his hands, “Do you think he’ll like the cafeteria pancakes? I know that the bacon is pretty good but do you think he’ll not want the jouce because it’s too kiddy or-”

  
Matt rolled his eyes and knocked on the door. “Hey Keith, it’s us. You know, Matt and Shiro?”

  
Matt had barely finished his sentence before the door opened, almost hitting him in the face, and revealed a pale yet refreshed looking Keith Kogane.

* * *

  
_I get it, it’s the right thing to do. The dude came by in Shiro’s time of need and nursed him back to health at the cost of his own._

_I was not prepared for what happened next._

* * *

  
After making their way into Keith’s room, both Shiro and Matt were taken aback by how Spartan everything looked. The basic furniture (a bed frame, mattress, bookshelf, desk, dresser) were present but nothing else was obvious. The only things that could be considered decoration would probably be the clothes hanging in the open closet, the poster featuring a hover bike taped to the back of the door, a small frame on the desk that featured a picture of Keith and an older man that Matt assumed to be his father. A large portion ripped from the left half could only imply that Keith’s mother was a topic not to touch. Any other item that was typically personalized by the students, such as sheets or towels, was from the standard bargain set that could be bought through the school store.

  
_He really is just like Oliver,_ Matt thought to himself while trying to show how disturbed he felt as he handed Keith his breakfast.

  
Shiro, on the other hand, looked five seconds from stealing Iverson’s car and dragging Keith to the closest WalMart.

  
Matt took a seat Keith’s empty desk chair, which lacked the pile of clean and yet to be put away clothes that his and Shiro’s chair usually held. Matt was so dazed at the lack of life in the room that he said nothing when Shiro took a seat next to Keith on the younger boy’s bed.

  
Keith was practically finished with his juice pouch when Shiro decided to speak up.

  
“I wanted to say thanks for bringing me the mac and cheese. It last a few days so I didn’t have to worry about food so… thanks. I’m sorry you had to go through all the trouble.”

  
Keith shrugged as he threw away the now empty food containers, “It was no problem really. The Garrison may have the best space program in the Midwest, but it is still first and foremost an Air Force institution. We do have classes for things like cargo and fighter pilots after all, which last I checked aren’t needed in space unless there is a war going on and we just don’t know it. They have to train all fields, including the cooks who will be deployed to all the bases. I just talked to one of the cooks in training to get the ingredients and he helped me get permission to use the cafeteria.”

  
Matt blinked at the sudden info dump. He had been hanging out with his fellow communications and coding nerds for so long he almost forgot that the Garrison wasn’t NASA boot camp.

  
Keith continued, “Besides, I had to learn how to cook mac and cheese at least 100 different ways while I was in the system. I combined recipe #98 ‘Deep Dish’ with recipe #75 ‘Get the kids to eat Veggies’ for you.”

  
Shiro whipped his head to face Keith so fast that Matt winced; there was no way the older pilot did not pull a muscle in his neck. “The system? Like, foster care?”

  
“Yeah, some homes were good but there were always a few bad ones that spoiled the bunch.” Keith sighed, “There was one home where my so-called older brother was supposed to watch out for me and cook dinner every other night while his parents worked, but he was more interested in playing Hit or Miss with his friends in the basement.”

  
The words spilled out of Matt’s mouth before he had a chance to think it over, “What is Hit or Miss?”

  
“Some sort of high school or college game. From what I remember, it involved baking and getting baked. You would have this plate and on it would be brownies wrapped in tin foil, but some of them were actually hash cakes. People would take turns picking one out and eating it,” Keith explained as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “How you got a Hit or a Miss was never really explained when I woke up in the hospital after sneaking one. So much for being just a really good ordinary brownie, huh?”

  
If Matt had been drinking something, he would have spit it out- not because of Keith’s story, but because of the horrified look that Shiro was giving Keith. He was probably imagining small kiddie Keith in the hospital, pale and way too small and skinny for his bed, all because of an irresponsible idiot who didn’t know that he was blessed with the best of brothers.

  
Matt could only hope that Shiro didn’t do something drastic like track the guy down. If the glares Shiro tended to use whenever Keith was supposedly hurt, he did not want to see Shiro if he were to go eye-to-eye with someone who DID hurt the precious parkour boy.

  
Before Shiro could open his mouth to ask more information, like a name and address, Matt sprung to his feet. “So Keith, how about some gym time since you’re feeling better?”  
 

* * *

_I’m at most on level 2 friendship and already I know some of his tragic orphan backstory. I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that he had to go through what he did or the way Shiro’s eyes started to water._

  
_I have so many regrets and questions._

* * *

  
Gym time went just about as well as one expected it to go. Everything was fine for a while and for once it seemed like Matt, Shiro, and Keith were just normal humans.  
That was until Shiro and Keith had the brilliant idea to do some rope climbing. Matt had only tuned his back to them for one second. One second was all it took for chaos to happen.

  
When Matt turned back around, somehow Shiro and Keith’s climbing ropes had gotten tangled with each other and now Keith and Shiro were pressed up against each other.

  
“Uh, hi?” Shiro managed to croak out.

  
“…Hi.” Keith answered, face slowly turning red.

  
In that moment, Matt swore that he saw his life flash before his eyes. If he did scream, the noise was lost in the sounds of Keith and Shiro stammering apologies to one another.

* * *

_I can no longer watch Disney films or listen to Phil Collins, but at least I remembered where we buried that jar of quarters when you were six._

_It’s under Baebae’s doghouse if you want to know._

* * *

 

The climb down was just as bad. Between the twisting of the rope back to their natural position and the stammering of the two climbers, it was if something else was brewing but Matt couldn’t put his finger on it. He wanted to run away but it was like looking at an accident waiting to happen; he just couldn’t bring himself to look away.

Keith was the first to reach the floor, releasing the rope and letting himself fall the last two feet. Shiro still had a ways to go and tried to do the same thing, but he didn’t let go of the rope in time and slid a few inches before dropping to the floor.

The fall wasn’t that much and at most Shiro would have had a sore back for the rest of the day, but Keith had already sprang into action.

He caught Shiro. He caught Shiro and then put him down on the floor and acted like it was nothing.

Matt and Shiro could only gawk as the shorter boy jogged over to one of the first aid kits to get something for Shiro’s rope burns.

* * *

  
_I hate everything._

* * *

  
Matt stood frozen as Keith treated Shiro’s rope burns trying to compute what he had just witnessed.

  
Keith had caught Shiro.

  
Keith was able to catch 200 pounds of muscle and Garrison Mac and not even flinch. Now, he was tending to Shiro almost like a doting-

  
_No! None of that!_ Matt screamed to himself. He was not going to go down that road.

  
As Matt wrestled his sanity back into its mental cage, he picked up on the conversation that Keith and Shiro were having.

  
“You’re good at this,” Shiro murmured.

  
“I’ve had practice.” Keith answered, not even stopping his wrapping.

  
“Practice?”

  
“Yeah, on my friends.”

  
Matt snapped out of his insanity fog at that moment, confused. Last he checked, Keith only talked to him and Shiro. Sure, they didn’t see each other all the time due to certain classes but this was the first time he had heard of Keith having friends.

  
“Friends? What are their names?” If Shiro’s voice cracked, nobody noticed.

  
“Well there’s Cindy, Jeff, Steve, the twins Sam and Sean, some others… We all hang and just take a nap together in a giant pile around this time actually.”

  
Matt did his best not to wince at the expression of barely disguised despair on Shiro’s face.

  
Once again, Matt decided to forego the advice of thinking before his spoke. “So, can we meet these friends of yours?”

* * *

  
_I thought I was making it so that he would be more comfortable around us, but I was wrong._

* * *

  
Matt was wrong.

  
When Keith said that he had friends, he expected other humans given their names. That was not the case this time.

  
During Keith’s breaks between his self-imposed parkour practice sessions, he had taken to befriending the local wildlife that had wandered onto the Garrison grounds. At that moment, the sad parkour boy was sleeping against a cougar, which was also sleeping, while surrounded by a small murder of crows, a turtle, a bobcat, and two coyote pups.

  
The only reason Matt did not scream in that moment was because he was pretty sure that if he disturbed any of the sleeping animals, the cougar would maul him while Shiro would leave him to die in favor of carrying Keith off into the sunset like some sort of high flying Prince Charming.

  
At this point if Keith turned out to be a Disney Princess in disguise, Matt would embrace it because that would be the only explanation as to how Shiro had suddenly lost a majority of higher brain functions involving human communication and the current scene would be possible.

  
Matt could only take out his phone and snap a few pictures just to make sure that he had proof about the event actually happening. If Shiro asked for a picture or two, he would deny the close encounter of the nature kind had ever happened and was just a residual fever dream.

* * *

  
_I’m Done, capital D. I swear to whatever higher power exists that he’s not human. I can only hope that whatever I go through in life is worth the reward after I die. Save these letters and tell my story._  
_\- Matt_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of these events was actually inspired by something that I overheard happened when I was in college. Also the idea of Keith having a soft spot for animals and they in turn have a soft spot for him makes my day.


	3. a little brother's choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Shiro's younger brother catches wind of baby's first crush and he has no choice but to add fuel to the fire. 
> 
> Arahir forgive me this was too good to pass up.

Ryou Shirogane was not like his older brother Takashi Shirogane. He was short, lanky and couldn’t build up muscle for the life of him. While Takashi thrived in the fields of flying and physical sports, Ryou was content with his books and science in a nice air conditioned room. Takashi was more of the free spirit while Ryou was a stickler for manners. Day and Night. Dark and Light. Opposites, and it suited Ryou just fine. 

 

So when Ryou started getting some rather odd emails from his brother, he had no choice but to ask the last person in the world he would ever really want to talk to: Katie Holt, the younger sister of Takashi’s roommate. The same roommate who poured soy sauce directly on his rice, forgot to bow when he said thank you, and didn’t wash off before taking a bath. The guy even wrote Ryou's name in red ink once for crying out loud!

 

Ryou Shirogane was many things, but petty was something that he never truly visited on a constant basis. 

 

However, looking at the emails that Katie Holt had forwarded him, to the picture, to Takashi’s email and back, something inside him woke up.

 

With a positively evil grin, Ryou began to compose his message.

 

_ Hey bro, great to hear from you! We’re all glad that you’re making friends outside of Matt (Oji-san’s words, not mine). _

 

_ It’s nice to know that you found the Kogane to your Shirogane. Gold? Silver? Because he wrecked your scores? Get it? Nevermind. _

 

_ Anyway, since this kid sounds like he will be facing a pretty lonely summer break, why don’t you convince Matt to bring him along when he comes to visit us for a month? Summer festivals, the beach, maybe even a hot spring visit if this Keith is up to it. Mom thinks he would look ‘quite dashing’ if he did got his picture taken in a kimono. _

 

If anyone heard the ominous laughter from Ryou’s room followed by the sound of keystrokes, they said nothing of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to do this. It kept nagging me.
> 
> Ryou was a character in the original GoLion series, which was dubbed into Voltron. Both he and the 80s Shiro were combined into the single character Sven to censor Shirogane's death in the original version. They explained Sven's absence and reappearance on the ship taking Sven to the 'space hospital' being attacked and everyone ended up captured by Zarkon.
> 
> Also all the things that Matt has done while visiting Shiro's family are things that you should NOT do in Japan, as they are considered rude.
> 
> Also the joke with Kogane and Shirogane has to do with the translation of the 80s surnames. Shirogane is a word for silver while Kogane is a word for gold.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what possessed me to write this but I did. I hope that it was somewhat enjoyable.


End file.
